1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic remote controlled locks, especially to those useful for locking otherwise conventional cabinets and desks in homes and commercial establishments.
2. Background
There is a long standing need for a locking system that can be conveniently and inexpensively installed on the cabinet doors and drawers of homes to limit access by children and the impaired to toxic chemicals and dangerous pharmaceuticals. "Children from birth to three make up the highest risk group for injuries in the home". Parents' Magazine, September 1990, v. 65, n. 9, p111. The National Safety Council reported that during the year 1988 poisoning was one of the five leading causes of accidental home deaths for children under five. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, children were the victims of over sixty percent of the 1.3 million nonfatal poisonings reported in 1988.
It would be advantageous to have remotely controlled, individual locks that are universally designed to install in extremely confined areas such as drawers, cabinets and all types of enclosures. Remote control is advantageous because many cabinets and drawers contain potentially dangerous substances and chemicals, which are usually located in different areas of the home, including the kitchen, bathrooms, utility room and garage. The remote and instantaneous locking of all these widely dispersed and selected enclosures would enhance safety and minimize the chances for chemically and pharmaceutically induced human injury. The convenience of remote controlled locking would encourage the use of locking devices, or at least will not limit use, because of oversight of one or more enclosure.
A need also exists in offices, other commercial establishments and in homes for a remote control locking device for cabinets and desk drawers to secure or at least limit access to valuable items and documents from intruders and unauthorized observers. It is too inconvenient to lock each desk, cabinet or storage area individually, especially when time is pressing or emergencies arise.
The prior art locking devices seem to fall into two categories: (1) those that operate individually and (2) those that operate remotely but in a mode that limits usefulness and applicability because of a burdensome installation cost or difficult installation.
The individually operated locks include those using keys and combination tumblers. Also included is the type of lock that is actuated by a permanent magnet that trips a lock inside a cabinet or drawer when held adjacent the exterior of the cabinet or drawer and adjacent the lock.
The remotely controlled locks include those that are connected electrically to a switch that is manually or timer controlled, such as those used to secure bank vaults. There are also radio controlled locks such as those used to unlock automobile trunk lids and doors by operation of a small radio frequency transmitted carried on a key ring by a motorist. The transmitter is programmable to send a coded signal, and the receivers for the radio controlled locks have a decoder for enhanced security.
The known prior art locking devices have not been applied, or have received little acceptance as remote controlled locking devices and systems for the enclosures of homes or offices, possibly because they are in general too expensive, or inconvenient to install or use, require too much energy or are physically too large to install in these confined areas. For whatever reason, the failure to provide a remotely controlled locking system that can be easily and economically applied to otherwise ordinary doors and drawers, especially in households, has left too many children in harm's way.